Punch and die assemblies used in conventional stamping and forming machines are typically attached to opposed mounting surfaces of a die set, and arranged so that a strip of material can be fed along a feed path while the punches and dies are moved into and out of engagement to perform various stamping and forming operations on the strip. Such punch and die assemblies often have multiple stations, each of which will perform a different operation on the strip as the strip is momentarily stopped in position at the station. Each station has its own punch and mating die, or in certain cases forming tooling, and requires appropriate mechanisms for adjusting the shut height, such as shims or screw or cam mechanisms, and other mechanisms for actuating the stripper plate. Therefore, in the case of a die set having a five station punch and die assembly, five separate shut height adjusting mechanisms are needed as well as five separate stripper plate actuating mechanisms and their associated springs. This contributes greatly to the complexity and the cost of producing the punch and die assemblies and to the cost of their maintenance.
In universal stamping and forming machines, those having two mutually opposed ram levers, such as the machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,928 which issued May 2, 1995 to Bakermans, et al. and which is incorporated herein by reference, the mating punch and die assembly is in the form of a box structure. That is, an outer guide structure having four walls, in the shape of a box with two opposite open ends, contains the punch assembly in one end and the die assembly in the other end. The four walls then guide the punch and die assemblies during their reciprocating motion toward and away from each other. In this case, as with the conventional die set, a die set having a five station punch and die assembly, requires five separate shut height adjusting mechanisms as well as five separate stripper plate actuating mechanisms.
What is needed is a die set having mechanisms built in that can be interfaced with individual punch and mating die units so that the built in mechanisms can adjust shut height and can operate the stripper plates of the units in each station, thereby obviating the need for providing such mechanisms in each and every punch and mating die unit.